Home designers working to build multi-generational housing

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Home designers are considering a new way of building that caters to several generations.

For the first time ever, six generations are living on the same planet. Now, more and more families are wanting to live together. It’s creating a unique challenge for some builders.

“There has been a little bit of a trend,” said Mark Gradison with Gradison Design Build. “The empty nester generation, they want to be close to where their grandkids are.”

Design teams are getting more creative. There are more and more homes popping up in-law suites on the main floor or in the basement. Some families are opting for several but separate homes on their properties. Cities are recognizing this and catering to what they’re referring to as “multi-generational housing.”

“A larger development and we have two or three sanctions in that development devoted toward different types of product,” Gradison explained. “It could be a starter home, a first-time move up, but it could also have an empty-nester.”

In other words, cities are allowing for neighborhoods with various housing sizes, designs and price points. The problem with this, though, is that many metropolitan areas don’t have the space.

“From a jurisdictional perspective, if we tell them we’re going to have these $800,000 homes and then we want smaller homes over here, a lot of times they ask us to raise the bar on those smaller homes,” Gradison said.

Designers say it’s difficult to build multi-generational housing in Indianapolis and surrounding suburbs, but that they’re determined to try.